City confirm departing players.

[morty]

Do you guys get to many away games? He's actually been pretty good in recent months.

If he has to go based on money, then fair enough. But the proof of the pudding will be what we replace him with. We need a Bradley Johnson / Gary Oneil midfield grafter who is going to do the dirty work.

 

[hogesar]

I don't agree you shouldn't look at the price tag and associate that with performances. Not least because the price tag can be relevant to their wages.

And pragmatically speaking, with Naismith, are we getting anywhere near a 40k a week player? Because whilst he's been quite good recently he's not stood out as anything more than a good Championship player. I presume Webber probably thinks he can get two 'good Championship players' for around that wage mark.

As for Hoolahan? Getting rid would be stupid and I'm pretty sure from what's been said so far that Webber agree's with that notion. I think Pritchard has shown he needs to start most games next season but he was also poor in several performances and whilst Wes was too, he was also brilliant in a good number of games too. That, combined with the fact we won't be getting any kind of decent fee for him, plus he's a great tutor for the likes of Pritch and Maddison anyway, AND still has plenty to offer and reckon he'd still start 10-15 games next season he's certainly one to keep.

 

[morty]

So its fine to get shot of Naismith purely for financial reasons, but not Hoolahan?



And lets face it, that 40k figure is pure speculation, isn't it? Surely someone you describe as a "good Championship player" is something we should be interested in?

 

[hogesar]

If you're asking would I rather keep Hoolahan or Naismith then it's Hoolahan 99x over.

Naismith is a good championship player. But all the information we have access to at the moment suggests we're paying Premier League wages for him. The only reason why, if reports are correct, we're willing to let him go on a free would be because his wages are so extremely high we basically class saving that as the fee. And certainly around the time of signing him all the reports suggested very high wages, all the reports now seem to suggest the same, typically there's no smoke without fire and combined with how long it took for us to convince him to come here it wouldn't surprise me if he's the highest paid player on our books.

If he was 22 and had potential to be a good Premier League player then you could almost understand keeping him, but he's 31, not had the best of times with us despite a recent revival which has still only made him a good player in a team playing well (he's not exactly stood out), and doesn't offer us anything special that I don't think we could find elsewhere for significant less outlay in wages.

 

[morty]

To be honest, take the sentiment out of it, and theres very little between what they offer, albeit in different ways, as regarding value for money.

Hoolahan will start very few games next season, as we should be basing the side around the likes of Pritchard and Maddison, and If you were to look at it clinically, do his wages justify his place as an occasional squad member? Because lets face it, Wes will be on a few bob too.

But with everything Hoolahan, most people aren't able to take the sentiment out and look at it clinically.

It would be very interesting to see fans reaction to Hoolahan being transfer listed, the same fans who are currently loving the cull!

 

[GJP]

Do you guys get to many away games? He's actually been pretty good in recent months.

If he has to go based on money, then fair enough. But the proof of the pudding will be what we replace him with. We need a Bradley Johnson / Gary Oneil midfield grafter who is going to do the dirty work.

For the record I wasn't saying he doesn't do a decent job.

But not a £50k a week job.

 

[Gaffer]

If we can't shift him to a Premier League club to help his old manager battle for survival, what chance of getting rid of him now? He probably sees Norwich as his last big pay day and will be happy to stay here even if he's not wanted.

 

[morty]

For the record I wasn't saying he doesn't do a decent job.

But not a £50k a week job.

You can literally pick a figure from a hat though. If he is genuinely on 50k a week (which in the Championship I very much doubt) then getting rid of him is 100% the best thing to do.

 

[hogesar]

Wes will be on good money but the chances of him being near Naismiths is pretty much nil.

And in terms of basing it around Maddison - not sure i've seen enough to say that Maddison should start ahead of Hoolahan. Playing him just because he's young is a little bit nonsensical and something people said in defence of AN earlier in the season so not sure how the reverse can now apply.

 

[GJP]

Do you guys get to many away games? He's actually been pretty good in recent months.

If he has to go based on money, then fair enough. But the proof of the pudding will be what we replace him with. We need a Bradley Johnson / Gary Oneil midfield grafter who is going to do the dirty work.

Also, Tettey has been the grafter. Johnson was busy doing nothing and Gaz was a bit of a comfort zone player who got a bit overrated.

 

[Gaffer]

You can literally pick a figure from a hat though. If he is genuinely on 50k a week (which in the Championship I very much doubt) then getting rid of him is 100% the best thing to do.

We know Sunderland couldn't afford his wages so it probably is something that high.

 

[GJP]

You can literally pick a figure from a hat though. If he is genuinely on 50k a week (which in the Championship I very much doubt) then getting rid of him is 100% the best thing to do.

Let's face it, these rumours have come out because the club want him gone. And that will be because he is on mega bucks. 

 

[morty]

Also, Tettey has been the grafter. Johnson was busy doing nothing and Gaz was a bit of a comfort zone player who got a bit overrated.

Tettey really isn't quite good enough, which has been shown by Dorrans' return to the team, where we have looked more solid. We need more steel in our midfield, which could relieve pressure on the defence.

 

[morty]

Wes will be on good money but the chances of him being near Naismiths is pretty much nil.

And in terms of basing it around Maddison - not sure i've seen enough to say that Maddison should start ahead of Hoolahan. Playing him just because he's young is a little bit nonsensical and something people said in defence of AN earlier in the season so not sure how the reverse can now apply.

Theres a very real possability that the likes of Maddison or Pritchard start to get itchy feet if not included, a la Canos.

Theres decisions to be made, we can't fit Wes, Pritchard, Naismith and Maddison in every week. And the Murphys.

This isn't some polarised "Anti Wes" narrative, but like I say, decisions have to be made about the structure of the squad with one eye on the future, and maximising what we have, both in terms of players, and money we have to spend.

 

[morty]

Let's face it, these rumours have come out because the club want him gone. And that will be because he is on mega bucks. 

And thats fine, if its all part of the bigger picture, I have no issue with that. But people just branding him rubbish (taking financial issues out of it) are wide of the mark, in my opinion.

 

[morty]

It seems a lot of folks are forming their opinions on wages from articles like this. That used Championship manager 2016 as their source. 

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/511680/Revealed-How-much-each-Norwich-player-earns-week

 

[GJP]

Tettey really isn't quite good enough, which has been shown by Dorrans' return to the team, where we have looked more solid. We need more steel in our midfield, which could relieve pressure on the defence.

Tettey is not the player he once was. Gut feeling is that he wanted out a while back but wasn't accommodated. 

 

[Fenway Frank]

Weren't there reports that Naismith was the only player that didn't have the 50% pay cut in his contract ? That would explain the 50k. 

 

[morty]

Weren't there reports that Naismith was the only player that didn't have the 50% pay cut in his contract ? That would explain the 50k. 

To be honest, you can either choose to believe, or disbelieve stuff like this. I should imagine that there are very few people who know footballers actual salaries, and how they are broken down with appearance and promotion bonuses. 

Kinda winds me up a bit when people break it down to financial jealousy though, bemoaning the fact that footballers get paid a lot of money. It is what it is, thats the going rate, whether you like it or not. Naismith is an honest player, whatever he is paid. I have more issue with the likes of Lafferty and Van Wolfswinkel, who could have easily put football first and taken their wages off our books. You could lump Becchio into that bracket too.

I judge Naismith purely what I see with my own eyes, and although it took him a while I see a player who gives 100% and adds steel and leadership to our midfield.

 

[morty]

Also I think that we should totally separate decisions about players in contract to the ones we are releasing.

I think a new head coach should be in place before decisions are made on contracted players.